# Should SDMB Be Subscription Based? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 11, 2000, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208 "2000-07-11T13:39:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/21 "2000-07-12T11:41:34Z")
> [@](#): > > And as for charging for something and then calling it a “noncoercive freemarket[”], well, that seems to beg the terminology. “Lord, my load is heavy.” — Lily Tomlin Free, in that context, means free as in “free to engage in trade and commerce”, not free as in “no cost to you”. > [@](#): > > And I know a lot of people who are even cheaper than I am who probably would do the same. Exactly! Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/22 "2000-07-12T18:06:09Z")
**tshirts** , I like your idea! A penny for each post you make, and the “swearing jar” for bad language. That would teach people to think before they post. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/23 "2000-07-12T18:21:59Z")
So will “felch,” “squick,” and “putz” be considered swearing, **Arnold**? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/24 "2000-07-12T22:04:08Z")
I like this place alot, but I don’t know about paying for it. I’m on a fixed income and my ends don’t meet. 😃 Also I don’t have a credit card. The real question is; would $10 times x posters be enough to be worth the trouble. Would it pay for the cost to collect the fees, let alone paying for improvements. (hijack) When I hear the term ‘freemarket forces’ or something like it, it usually means that the poor are not welcomed.That’s just me though. ;)(/hijack) ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/25 "2000-07-12T22:44:15Z")
FOG!!! Welcome back! Where you been? your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/26 "2000-07-12T23:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > “swearing jar” for bad language Well, fuck that Arnold. As you already know, I think rather than a robo-censor we oughtta have a robo-curser that inserts a user specified number of obscenities per paragraph. I could devote more time to selecting adjectives and adverbs instead of wasting my time crafting profanities. Heh, and you thought I was kidding when I suggested that. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/27 "2000-07-13T00:32:52Z")
**Fogmage** I would be willing to do what I can to assist you. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/28 "2000-07-13T02:27:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TubaDiva \* > \*\*FOG!!! Welcome back! Where you been? > > your humble TubaDiva > Administrator > \*\* Right here. I didn’t go any where. I don’t post much because my typeing & spelling skills are…well they suk. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/29 "2000-07-13T02:49:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\ ***Fogmage** > > I would be willing to do what I can to assist you. \*\* Thank You. I need a new computer, should I send the bill to you, or do you want to just send me the cash?😃 😉 😃 If it was only $10 or so a year, I could scrape it together. If they were to start charging it on say, August 1st, I might have to wait until September, before posting again, but I could pay it. Is $10 enough though? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/30 "2000-07-13T11:59:03Z")
Most likely. The sort of equipment that Ed said was needed could be capitalized and amortized over several years. Obviously, Jerry has taken care of performance issues (for now), but the issue of the trolls remains. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/31 "2000-07-13T13:03:35Z")
Libertarian said: > [@](#): > > but the issue of the trolls remains. Except that charging a subscription fee won’t actually stop the trolls. Okay, let’s say that Person X has been acting troll-like (asking stupid questions, giving stupid replies to other people’s valid questions, etc.). The mods decide he needs to be kicked out. But what happens to Person X’s subscription fee? If X has it refunded to him, then X hasn’t actually lost any money, and may just sign right back up again to screw with the boards again. If X’s money is kept (as X is considered to be the one breaking the contract through his actions), then the Moderators will be held to a _much_ higher standard of scrutiny and record- after all, they have the power to deny someone access to a service they paid for, and people will tend to get paranoid about it. Geez, we’ve gone through lots of bitching and moaning about Moderator actions as a _free_ site; I don’t even want to think about the level of “Why do the mods do this/why aren’t the mods doing this?” questions and accusations made should people begin to feel like they’re _paying_ the site to provide service. Which means in the long run, each individual troll can get away with a lot more, as the mods will feel much more pressure to gather more evidence and document their opinions than they do now. So either way, any ‘anti-troll’ benefit this grants us is limited at best. It’s more of a side effect than a reason for implementation. Oh, and UncleBeer? I fucking really like the idea of a shitting robot inserting random crap swear words throughout felching people’s posts. Let me cocksucker know when that project is about to Pauly Shore take effect. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/32 "2000-07-13T13:27:56Z")
**John** Your point is well taken. That is indeed one possibility. However, it contrasts the risk of contending with troll invasions to the risk of contending with moderators’ interpretations of rules. So long as an appeal channel is open to an administrator, like TubaDiva, I would much rather contend with the latter. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/33 "2000-07-13T16:54:07Z")
Lib, many of the recent trolls were gaining repeated access through a couple security flaws in the vBulletin software. The recent upgrade has plugged these holes. The impostor names are definitely a thing of the past as well as the falsified e-mails. We also have some new tools for IP search and identification, as well as a working IP ban feature. The full range of these security enhancements should limit troll-like activity to what I’ll term, “normal” trolling. That is, troll behavior should merely be coming from your garden-variety jerks. Those we can deal with as we always have. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208/34 "2000-07-13T18:02:58Z")
Thanks, UncleBeer. I would say that puts the matter to rest. Therefore, I hereby withdraw my suggestion for the time being. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-sdmb-be-subscription-based/25208.md?page=1)